Namekian
Nameks (ナメック星人, Namekku-seijin), also commonly known as Namekians, are a race from Planet Namek. They are among the most important races in the series, as they are the creators of the Dragon Balls. Nameks are humanoid with slug-like characteristics, including green skin and antennae. Namekians are fully grown at the age of eight (not counting demonic and Super Nameks). In the original Japanese versions of the King Piccolo/Piccolo Jr. Sagas of Dragon Ball, they were known as Mazokus, who had varying humanoid features and were of more earthly origin. Appearance and Physiology Nameks are humanoids with slug-like characteristics, including antennae, light green skin, and pink patches appearing throughout their bodies (also, many Namekians are named after words meaning "slug" or "snail"). Elderly Nameks have darker green skin and less prominent pink patches (these appear to become dull-orange as the Namek advances in age), pointy ears, and red rings, in which they have three red conjoined rings on their ankles and wrists, making them look like they have ankle bands and wristbands. In Dragon Ball Online, the new generation Namekians have a yellow face and a vertical line in the middle of the head. They require only water for sustenance, as their bodies have enzymes that allow them to transform water into nutrients.[14] During the Namek Saga, Krillin offers Dende food, to which the young Namekian declines, stating he and his people only drink water.[15] However, King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr. are seen eating food a few times, such as when a Piccolo Jr. as a Kid was seen eating a fish.[16] Later, during a filler, Piccolo complains about having fish for two weeks straight when Gohan catches one and says that he wants it for dinner.[17] It is possible that Namekians can eat for pleasure rather than for sustainance, as demonstrated in the anime when King Piccolo ordered the King Castle chefs to prepare a huge feast for him. Namekian are adapted to a world with three suns, so it is unknown what sort of sleep pattern they have (if any). As stated in the Trunks Saga and witnessed in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, Namekians have developed a sense of hearing beyond that of humans, with Piccolo once bragging that he could hear across the universe with his hearing when explaining that part of the reason why he tracked Goku and Broly down to New Planet Vegeta was because he overheard his conversation with King Kai. Namekians appear to have very long lifespans. For example, Grand Elder Guru, the only Namekian known to die of natural causes, was over 500 years old when he died.[18] Kami also lived to be around 300 years old before fusing with Piccolo.[19] Namekians can withstand more cold than humans without being cold, as proven when it was revealed that the nameless Namekian spent several years in the cold Yunzabit Heights as a child and when Piccolo stated humans are so delicate after Krillin said he was freezing during the Androids Saga. According to an interview with Akira Toriyama, Namekians are hermaphrodites that possess physiques similar to those of human males. Despite the fact that hermaphrodites can reproduce sexually, the Namekians in series are seen reproducing only asexually, using a mode of reproduction similar to the parthenogenesis, and spitting egg out from their mouth. Despite this asexual reproductive system, there is still diversity in the species as the offspring is usually not an exact copy of the parent, like with King Piccolo or Grand Elder Guru. Rather, it appears that the parent has some control over what type of child will be formed (it is shown that King Piccolo has the ability to determine the appearance and traits of his offspring). This is carried to the extent that they may be mutated and not closely resemble others of the species. King Piccolo was able to spawn demonic Nameks that did not resemble a Namek at all to help him in his quest for eternal youth and complete domination. It appears Nameks are usually close to their children, and though King Piccolo treated his sons as minions he appeared to care for the sons he gave life in his old age (in contrast, he was seemingly unfazed by the deaths of his sons at the hands of Mutaito and his students, as well as Drum after his youth was restored). Nameks are also telepathically linked to their sons and can reach them from seemingly anywhere, as well as sense their deaths (as seen by Guru). Their blood color is red or purple. Early in the series, King Piccolo and Piccolo's blood was portrayed as red. Drum is the first Namekian ever to be portrayed with purple blood. Most Namekians appear to be roughly the size of normal Humans, but King Piccolo, Kami, and Guru are all shown to have a height and size beyond normal humans, this is never explained. Namekians also appear to be quite capable as warriors, as evidenced by Vegeta and Nappa concluding that it was not surprising that it would be a Namekian that would be capable of killing Raditz, as well as Vegeta specifically stating that one trait among Namekians are their unusually high power levels.[20] In addition, Namekians have the innate ability to not only sense the overall magnitude of someone's power, but also the inherent alignment within that person's heart. This is especially apparent when Tsuno declined Vegeta's request to get a Dragon Ball because he could sense the evil within Vegeta's heart, as well as Dende initially refusing to heal Vegeta because of the evil in Vegeta's heart. Namek Castes Namekians are philosophical warriors, being broadly divided into two classes: Warriors and Dragon Clan.[21] Before Frieza attacked Namek, the Namekians were composed 86% Dragon Clan Namekian and 14% Warrior-Type Namekian.[3] There are six Elders, each to a village: Elder Moori has seven Dragon Clan Namekians (himself, two elders, two unseen members, Dende and Cargo) and three Warrior-type Namekians within his village. Elder Tsuno has sixteen Dragon Clan members and three Warriors in his village. The four unnamed Elders have a total of sixty five Dragon Clan and eight Warrior-type Namekians amongst them. Grand Elder Guru has only one Namekian with him, his bodyguard, the Warrior-type Nail.[21] Piccolo can be considered a half Warrior-Type and half Dragon Clan Namek hybrid because of his fusion with Nail (a Warrior) and Kami (a Dragon Clan member), giving him his vast abilities. With a mix of Warrior-Type and Dragon Clan, he is an excellent combatant and has many Dragon Clan type mystical abilities. He also is the most powerful Namekian by the end of the series, which places him in an entirely different caste of Namekians, Super Nameks. Dragon Clan Main article: Dragon Clan The Namekian support caste. These Namekians have abilities that pertain to magic, and are the only ones capable of creating / manipulating Dragon Balls. Nameks in this class include Guru, Kami, Moori and Dende. In Dragon Ball Online, Dragon Clan is noted to be the only core class that requires the player to have a weapon (Staff) equipped. This is the core of a Namekian that will branch off to either the supportive Healer or the offensive Poko Priest. Warrior-type Namekian Main article: Warrior-type Namekian The combat caste. These are Nameks who are proficient in combat, and their power levels are usually around the 3,000 range. As stated previously, Nail is by far the most powerful warrior-type Namek, with a power level of 42,000.[22] Warrior-type Nameks are unable to use some of the magician-like abilities of members of the Dragon Clan, as shown by how when Piccolo merges with Kami and uses his body as the base, the Dragon Balls lose their power and another Dragon Clan member (Dende) is needed to restore it. The Daizenshuu states that the first batch of three Nameks who fought Frieza's men were warrior-types. The anime states that all combat-capable Nameks (including Nail) were of the same caste and that Nail was far more powerful because he was the best of them. In both the anime and manga, Guru states that Nail was the only Namek born a fighter-type. In Dragon Ball Online, once reaching the required level of skill, a Warrior-type Namekian may choose to become axe-wielding Shadow Knight or a Dark Warrior which fights equipped with claw weapons. Mutated Namek Main article: Mutated Namek Also known as the Demon Clan. With a desire for world domination, King Piccolo gives birth to several Namekians with severely warped characteristics. It is believed that the evil mind and soul of King Piccolo is what changed them into these horrible monsters. At least in the case of Cymbal his Draconic appearance was the result of King Piccolo giving him an appearance that matched his task of finding Dragon Balls. Their output of energy varies, as almost all can do nothing more than a Chou Makouhou, but Tambourine uses several energy attacks, in order to kill all martial artists. Their appearance continuously varies, as Tambourine had gargoyle features, and there was an unnamed spawn looking like Godzilla. King Piccolo's final spawn, Piccolo Jr., was the only son that looks like a normal Namekian. Special abilities In the series, Namekians demonstrate a wide variety of abilities, many of them magical in nature. These abilities are seen mostly by important characters, such as Piccolo, so it is unknown how many are common to the species versus the individual. *Heightened sense of hearing: Namekian sense of hearing is far greater than that of Humans. Emperor Pilaf discourages his servants Mai and Shu from whispering things to him, exclaiming King Piccolo could hear everything (implying he had displayed the ability already). Piccolo told Goku that the large ears were not just to frame his face and that he heard all that Future Trunks told him, indicating that their large outer ear structure gives them heightened hearing. In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, it is stated that very high-pitched sounds like whistling can be irritating to Namekians, to the point of causing them pain, particularly when they are in their Great Namek form (as their eardrums are massive in size). However, removing the ears beforehand can lessen the effects, as demonstrated in the same film by Piccolo ripping out his ears so he will not have to be affected by Gohan's whistling after stating Gohan to whistle to weaken Lord Slug. *Thick skin: Namekians evidently have thick skin capable of shielding them from extreme drops in temperature. After his spaceship lands on Earth in the frigid Yunzabit Heights, the nameless Namekian spends his life alone in the region from youth through adolescence. Polar regions are also a common venue for Piccolo's training, as seen throughout Dragon Ball Z as well as the film The World's Strongest. In the episode "Nightmare Comes True", Piccolo speaks aloud his satisfaction in not being an Earthling, in response to Krillin's complaints that the vicinity of North City is too cold. *Regeneration: Nameks are an extremely resilient race and capable of healing themselves and regenerating body parts instantly, as long as their brains are intact. This does not make them completely invulnerable, though, as it takes a large amount of reserve energy to perform and it is possible for a Namek to die with his body more or less intact after a battle. *Stretching arms (Body flexibility): A Namekians body and limbs are also extremely flexible. They can elongate their arms and legs at will. With considerable effort, they are even able to grow many times their size (although Goku claims in the Piccolo Jr. Saga that growing like that does not increase the Namek's power level, and essentially does nothing but make them a bigger target). *Awakening potential: A somewhat mystical ability used by Guru, he was able to raise the power level of individuals by awakening their potential. It is not just a normal power boost; it makes the person as powerful as they possibly could be at that point in time, assuming they already are not. If the individual is already at their max, and they already meet their potential, the technique will do them no good. *Magic Materialization: Namekians can create items like clothing out of thin air. It is likely this ability is what is used for their most potent skill, the creation of Dragon Balls. It was noted in the series that only members of the Dragon Clan are able to create Dragon Balls, but it is unclear whether their creation is a learned skill or innate to the species, as Kami created them based on a racial memory of sorts. *Fusion: Nameks have an assimilatory technique where they are able to permanently join themselves with other members of their race. When this is done one of the Namekians serve as the base and gains the skills, memories and many of the personality traits of the other. It is unknown what happens to the soul of the fused Namek, but it is hinted that the other soul simply remain with the body until it perishes, or that, at least, the personality and memories are, to some extent, present within the host being. This is evident when Nail talked to Dende through Piccolo, proving that Nail's knowledge and personality were still present (although this was only in the anime), to an extent, or when, after the fusion of Kami and Piccolo, Piccolo's personality changed somewhat. The Namek fusion will not obtain any caste specific abilities from the other. This is shown when Piccolo, a fighter-type, is unable to restore the Dragon Balls, even though he had fused with Kami, who was a member of the Dragon Clan. *Fission: The reverse of fusing, a single Namek can also split into different copies of himself. One instance of this ability being used was when Kami purged all the evil within himself by casting it off into a separate being, resulting in his evil twin brother King Piccolo. Both Nameks were able to read each others thoughts, and if one died the other would as well. Because of the drawbacks this ability should not be considered a perfect fission as they, in all considerations, are still one being. However, if one half were to die and give life to another Namek, the other half would remain intact. Just before King Piccolo died he spawned his final son Piccolo, and Kami did not perish, though it should also be noted Piccolo is his own parent reborn in the form of a son and very well may have been the only reason Kami lived. *Soul control: Kami has demonstrated this ability, as he was able to incarnate his soul into another being, essentially possessing them. It is also likely that in Namek fission, the soul is shared between the two new Nameks. *Healing: Dende is shown with the ability to heal other beings of virtually any injury. *Increased lifespan: Guru was several hundreds of years old before he passed on. The Nameless Namek's good and evil counterparts Kami and King Piccolo are the first Nameks to be portrayed in advanced age. *Aging: Namekians possibly age differently than Humans; three years after his birth, Piccolo is physically Goku's age. However, Dende appeared the same age as Gohan when he first appeared, stayed the same age in the five years between the Namek Saga and the Cell Games Saga, only to become a teenager by the time of the Majin Buu Saga. *Telekinesis and Telepathy: Piccolo was able to mentally lift a pyramid in the anime. King Piccolo and Guru communicated with their offspring, despite their locations on Earth and Namek respectively. *''Ki'' manipulation: Namekians are shown to be capable of controlling their ki, as they surprised Frieza and his troops when they raised their power levels after arriving at a village being attacked and the scouters showed that they initially had low power levels. Super Nameks Main article: Super Namek After Piccolo fuses with Kami, he powers up to levels well beyond of the existing Namekians. Thus, he is called by Krillin a "Super Namek" because of his new and extraordinary powers, able to far eclipse the strength of an untrained Super Saiyan.[23] The FUNimation Dub of Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug explains that some extremely powerful Namekians found the ancient secret to unlocking a higher consciousness within, becoming "Super Nameks". These Super Nameks were extremely aggressive and very different from their agrarian counterparts. These Super Nameks also seem to be able to show off their true power. They were banished from the planet using the Dragon Balls. However the original Japanese version states that Lord Slug was considered to be a "Super Namek", but escapes the dying Planet Namek during the climate shift by being sent off in a spaceship (much like Kami), and landing on Planet Slug. By the end of the manga, Piccolo is by far the most powerful Namekian, which would make him much more powerful than the "Super Namek" Lord Slug, or any of the others that are known of in the series. Piccolo could hold his own and even take the advantage at points in battle against an opponent as powerful as Android 17, during the Android Saga.[24] As the Cell Games approach, Piccolo decides to enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for training. Doing so also greatly increases his power level, as noted by Goku and Trunks.[25] The argument is that Piccolo fused with two powerful Namekians (Kami and Nail), making him by default the most powerful Namekian alive. Even without fusing with Nail and only fusing with Kami, Piccolo would still be much more powerful, as noted when Nail states that if he had been reunited with Kami prior to coming to Namek, he would be more than ready to defeat the same Frieza that mauled Nail in battle.[26] Category:Terminology